Missing Reds
by Darkness on the Horizon Leader
Summary: A mission mishap leaves Axel of Organization XIII and Sasori of the Akatsuki in swapped bodies! How will the two get home, when no one knows who they really are? Rated T for language and Hidan.
1. Henge No Jutsu!

**I was attacked by plot bunnies in the middle of the night D: once I started, I just couldn't stop!**

**By the way, this is the first Naruto anything fanfiction I've ever written and I did extensive research on the characters before I wrote them...just please go easy on me if I wrote them OOC D:**

**-Az.**

* * *

><p>It was a calm, quiet day in the Castle That Never Was. The day was just beginning, so the members of Organization XIII all convened in their meeting hall: the Round Room. It was a custom, established by Xemnas, to start the day off with meetings, in which the Organization discussed plans for the day, the future, and whatever mayhem may have befallen the Nobodies.<p>

The local redhead, Axel, fell into step beside his young friends Roxas and Xion as they made their way towards the room. Number VIII looked unnaturally tired, as his green eyes were dark and he walked slowly, slouching all the while.

"I wish Mansex wouldn't call these meetings every day, man." he groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Especially not when I just get back from a week-long mission in Agrabah! I want to _sleep._"

Roxas and Xion rolled their eyes at each other and smirked, but they didn't say anything.

Not having received a reply from either of the two, Axel frowned and raised his voice, "I mean...really! A _week_! I ought to be getting a medal for my _week _of hard, dedicated work! ...Guys? Guys!"

His voice was becoming higher and more frustrated, so Xion broke first and started giggling.

"We _heard _you, Ax!" she snickered, looking at the wide-eyed redhead, We _know _you were away for a week! We're glad to have you back."

Axel sighed and settled down, crossing his arms behind his head as he grunted, "Now _that's _what I like to hear."

Roxas sighed as the three entered the Room and took their seats via dark corridors. As usual, the inseparable trio were the last ones in and many of their fellow Nobodies sent them evil glances as they mounted their thrones and waited.

Xemnas paused to glance at his incoming members and sighed, starting the meeting.

"Now that we're all here...we have some new assignments we will be doing today. Xigbar, you and Demyx are to investigate a new world that number XI discovered. Numbers XIII and III, you are to train today. Numbers IV, V, and VI are still investigating the strange substance found yesterday, so they are currently excused from missions. And lastly...number VIII, there is a new world that _you _will be scouting." he said.

Axel sat up in his chair with a dismayed look on his face, but the others just shrugged and went about their duties. Axel was about to protest until a warning glare from Roxas silenced him. He was right; not even _Axel _had the guts to deny the Superior.

"...Yes Superior."

Axel left the room behind his two friends, grumbling about 'too much work' and 'working to the bone' but nonetheless, he prepared for the mission and took the papers from Saix.

He looked down and read the papers, sighing.

**Mission – **Investigate this new world.

**Objective – **Find out all you can on this new world. Report back as soon as possible.

**Notes – **According to the member who found this world, it has a high concentration of some foreign energy; proceed with caution.

Well it sounded easy enough. He had done recon before, how was this any different? And that "high concentration of energy" was probably just some hyped-up Heartless or something; no biggie.

"Well, I'm off, then." he announced, waving goodbye to Roxas and Xion.

"Have fun!" Roxas called.

"Good luck!" Xion told him.

Axel gave them a thumbs-up and left through the corridor, on to his next adventure.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in a world far, far, <em>far <em>away from the World That Never Was, another redhead was preparing for the day.

"Deidara, hurry up!" a brown-eyed man snapped at his hapless blond partner, running up beside him, "You know I hate waiting!"

"Sorry Sasori-danna!" Deidara exclaimed, jamming something into the pockets of his red and black robe, "Just wanted to grab something, un!"

Sasori huffed and walked out of their base, muttering, "More clay, I presume?"

"Yeah, un." Deidara scoffed, "Art _is _a bang, after all!"

"Frankly I'm getting tired of that catchphrase of yours, Deidara." Sasori said icily, "True art lasts forever, not a single second. If you—"

Deidara scoffed and turned away, having heard this grand "Art lasts forever" speech many times before. He busied himself by checking his clay and stubbornly ignored Sasori, until the puppetmaster made a particularly impatient noise somewhere between a hiss and a growl.

When he had the young blond's attention, Sasori calmed down and said, "Our mission is to assassinate someone in a nearby village. I expect you to treat the situation seriously, instead of just blowing things up at random."

Deidara snickered and threw up his hands, exposing the mouths on each, "Don't I always, Sasori-no-danna?"

Sasori wasted no more words on the boy as they went deeper into the forest, closing in on their target village. Deidara looked itching to make something detonate, but Sasori kept him at bay, signaling him to wait.

They proceeded through the woodland with ease, until they were sitting among the trees that guarded their village.

Sasori was analyzing the villagers' comings-and-goings, looking for a way in without suspicion, but found he was constantly interrupted by Deidara's blathering.

"Sasori-danna?"

"..."

"Sasori-danna...?"

"..."

"Sas—"

"Deidara," Sasori interrupted rudely, having reached the very end of his patience, "if I did not respond the first time I will not respond the third. Leave me to my work."

"But Sasori-no-danna! Look there!" Deidara exclaimed, nodding in the direction of the other side of the village. Sasori followed his gaze and at first, saw nothing but the black shapes of birds flying off.

"What? They're birds, Deidara." the annoyed puppet said.

"But they're flying off and screaming,un." Deidara argued, "That means something's going on over there, yeah?"

Sasori froze and silently cursed the boy; he _hated _it when the younger male had a good point.

"Yes, and what do you propose we do about it? Leader-sama is waiting for us to return." he said.

"I say we go over there and see what's going on, un." Deidara growled as he set off.

"Deidara!" Sasori hissed as he pursued his partner, "Deidara, we have a mission!"

"The mission can wait, Sasori-no-danna!" Deidara said over his shoulder, "I'm going to see what's going on, un!"

Sasori groaned as their route through the forest took them to the disturbance, and what a sight greeted them there!

* * *

><p>Axel dropped out of his portal into a wide, green forest, stumbling a bit. He straightened up and looked around, letting out an audible groan at the sight of the place. A forest. He <em>hated <em>forests! It was too tempting to set one of these trees alight and watch it burn, burn, burn...

He shook the thought away and started walking, keeping his mission in mind as he scouted the area. There wasn't much to see, really. Trees, grass, the occasional stone...

Maybe this was some kind of gag-mission?

He froze when he saw some leaves fluttering off a tree and he watched them fall, eyes narrowed. There wasn't any wind that _he _could feel here...

Looking up cautiously, Axel slithered around towards the tree and searched for whatever had disturbed the leaves. It could've been a squirrel, he guessed. But as he made a move to turn around, he felt something sharp whiz by his ear and a knife embedded itself in the bark of a tree next to him.

His eyes flashed open and he whirled around, summoning his chakrams as he did. Where there had been empty forest before him, now there was a team of three or so men, who had been concealing themselves in the trees.

No words were shared as the two sides clashed. Axel's fire and chakrams matched beautifully with the men and their physical-based attacks, and sparks flew from both sides as they attacked.

The tables turned on the fire-wielder when one of the men did something with his hands and the area was drenched in a blinding fog. Axel couldn't see up, down, or sideways and he attacked blindly, agitatedly throwing his chakrams here and there as he searched for his attackers.

He was lucky enough to hear a pained yelp coming from his left and he focused his attacks on that point, where he was rewarded with the sounds of _more _pain.

There was abrupt silence for a second, in which Axel withdrew his chakrams and stood tense, gripping the Eternal Flames tightly as he waited for a sound or attack.

The silence seemed to go on forever until it was suddenly broken by a loud _BANG! _Axel ducked as a hail of stone, leaves, dirt, and what looked like clay falling back to earth. He was repulsed to see a smear of blood appear on the rock before him and he recoiled backwards, unintentionally ramming into someone coming up behind him. He let out a shocked shout of surprise as he went down under a flurry of foreign limbs and what felt like bark, but seemed too mobile to be a tree.

What the hell kind of world WAS this?

Axel was about to burn whatever was on top of him off, when he was cut short by a sudden shout of, "Oh geez! HENGE NO JUTSU!"

There was another _BANG _and Axel's head swam with dizziness before he collapsed.

* * *

><p>Sasori made a move to grab Deidara's cloak but the blond twerp was too fast for him. Said twerp dropped onto a treelimb, watching the fight going on below with a maniacal look on his face.<p>

"A fight, un! Wonder who that guy is, yeah?" he said to his partner when the puppet was close enough to hear.

He was referring to the spiky-haired redhead on the floor below, as he squared off with some patrol from the village.

"Whoever he is, he is _not _our target." Sasori growled, "We shouldn't get involved and—"

He was cut short by the sudden curtain of fog that descended on the scene. He recognized it as a Hidden Mist Skill, so he wasn't immediately alarmed.

He was, however, when he saw Deidara making a bird bomb with some of his explosive clay and he caught his eye, where he began to signal Deidara to stop before he did something stupid.

Too late.

Deidara dropped the bird onto the scene, made the hand sign, and gave a quiet hiss of "Katsu!"

The bird exploded, right on top of their target, who had conveniently enough been in that scrap at the time. The partners in the tree jumped down to make sure no one was left alive in the blanket of smoke and fog, and things seemed all clear until something stumbled into Sasori from the back.

Whatever had hit him sent both puppet and person down to the forest floor, where they started to blindly attack each other in an attempt to shake the other off. Deidara couldn't get involved in the fight because he was too busy enjoying it to help. He did, however, chip in when he saw more disturbed birds coming at them, signifying that there was another patrol headed that way.

"Oh geez!" he hissed. His warning snapped Sasori back to his senses and the two partners made an identical handsign, before shouting in unison, "HENGE NO JUTSU!"

A loud sound erupted as the two jutsus clashed and the three people were knocked down from the force of the hit, but Deidara suffered noticeably less than the others. He saw Sasori and the mystery person faint and, without much choice, he grabbed them both and dragged them into the undergrowth, just ahead of the second patrol that had come to help.

He knew it was too risky to do another jutsu when he didn't know Sasori's state so, frustrated, the young artist contented himself by crafting some more clay birds, but with no intention of blowing them up...yet.

"Sasori-no-danna..." he sighed after a while. He looked at his unconscious partner and murmured, "Wake up..."

* * *

><p>Axel groaned and put a hand to his head. It was aching like hell and the dazed Flurry could only lay there and wince, rubbing his head. He felt like he had just been hit by a <em>Behemoth.<em>

"Dammit." he grunted as he sat up. He was still in the forest, that was for sure, but the problem was that there was the acrid stench of smoke in the air...and a blond teen staring at him with a huge blue eye; he couldn't see the other one.

"Sasori-no-danna!" the teen exclaimed, lunging at him. Before he could react, Axel was choked from the front by the overexcited teen, and he only dimly registered what he had called him.

_...danna? Doesn't that mean "master" or something?_

"Uh..."

"We have to go, un." the teen said quickly. He nodded at another figure lying passed out close by and he said, "We have to go before he sees us, yeah!"

Axel looked and nearly fainted with shock. He was staring at _himself! _Those were _his _red spikes sticking up out of that head, and _his _war paint put underneath those eyes! Not to mention _his _coat, which was now getting dirty from the forest!

"Aw shit!" he shouted, "What happened? How did I wind up like this?"

Deidara looked momentarily taken aback. Sasori _never _showed off emotions like that!

"You...you...there was a fight, danna." he said, "We both did a Transformation jutsu, remember? I think the two clashed and...exploded, un."

"What? Jutsu, what?" Axel asked, confused. "Who the hell are you, anyways?"

Deidara's eye widened and he looked uncertain.

"It's me, danna." he said, "Deidara! We're in the Akatsuki, remember?"

"The...what?" Axel asked.

"The Akatsuki! Oh man, un, not good, un." Deidara groaned, sitting back and rubbing his head, "I think you've got amnesia, un! Come on, we have to get you back to base and have Kakuzu look you over, un!"

Deidara got up and tugged the confused Axel with him, who kept looking back at his body anxiously, as if scared it would run away without him.

* * *

><p>Alone, Sasori stirred and stood up. Immediately, he felt he was...changed, somehow. Looking down, he was shocked to see he was wearing a dark, unmarked coat with a silver zipper going down it. He was also a <em>lot <em>taller than was normal, which disturbed him greatly.

"Deidara, what..."

He was shocked again to see that his headstrong partner was nowhere in sight, but some stray clay on the ground told of his brief presence here.

"Deidara, when I get my hands on you..." the puppet muttered as he prepared to leap into a tree and go back to base.

"Axel!"

The shout from behind startled Sasori so badly that he tumbled out of the tree and landed in an ungodly heap below. He groaned in pain as he felt himself being lifted up by two small pairs of hands and he was soon standing, looking into the identical blue eyes of a teenage boy and girl.

_Great. More teenagers._

"Axel! We were worried when you didn't come back! Saix said it was only a short mission, so he gave us clearance to come after you!" the girl, a raven-haired child of about fourteen, exclaimed.

_Axel...?_

"Yeah! Come on, Ax, Saix is waiting for your report!" the boy said, going behind him to shove him in the direction of some dark, swirling..._doorway _sticking up out of the ground.

"Wait!" Sasori exclaimed. The teens backed off and the confused puppet shook his head, trying to understand the situation.

"First of all: who is Axel? Second of all, who are _you _two?" he asked, shooting a glare their way, "Third, who is Saix and fourth! _What _is _that?_" this last remark was punctuated by a jab the dark corridor's way. The teens looked at each other, confused, before they looked back up at their friend.

"_You're _Axel, Axel." the boy said, "I'm Roxas, that's Xion! We're best friends, remember? Saix is our second-in-command; _you _should know that much! And that's a dark corridor! It's how we get from world to world. Are you feeling okay?"

Sasori looked from Roxas to Xion, confused, until it suddenly dawned on him what probably happened.

"_Henge no jutsu!"_

_Sasori, through the haze of smoke and fog, heard his and Deidara's shout as they set off the Transformation jutsu together. A loud explosion ensued, and the puppet was sent into throbbing, spiraling darkness..._

"The jutsu." he said. Roxas and Xion gave each other a blank stare. _A what...?_

"Um...Axel?" Xion squeaked, "We should...get you to Vexen. He'll sort you out."

Sasori narrowed his eyes threateningly, causing the girl to step back.

"Get away from me." he spat.

His hostility was momentarily forgotten when Roxas's hands flashed and a giant...key-looking sword appeared in his hand. He held it at Sasori threateningly, his eyes flashing.

"You don't have to talk to Xion like that! Axel, what's gotten into you?" he asked.

Sasori snorted and started to make the hand-signs for a particularly nasty jutsu when he was suddenly bashed over the head by a metal bar and he fell to earth like a log, landing with a loud _thump._

Surprised, Roxas looked slowly up to see Xion holding her Keyblade with an uncharacteristically terrifying frown on her face.

"Let's just get him back to the castle. Vexen'll know what to do." she said. Roxas obliged and took Sasori/Axel's legs and started to drag him towards the corridor, with Xion pushing him to help.

The corridor swallowed them up in darkness and far away, Deidara and Axel/Sasori were _just_ arriving at the Akatsuki base. Sadly, neither party knew what blunder they had just made.

* * *

><p><strong>Well well...this was fun to write o3o. What happens next? Leave a review to find out~!<strong>


	2. This is NOT My Cult!

**Hey, I'm back with chapter 2 of "Missing Reds!" Keep reviewing, and I'll keep writing :D Believe it!**

* * *

><p>Deidara led the still-confused Axel back towards the Akatsuki base. The young artist had to practically <em>drag <em>the transformed Flurry through the trees _before_ someone from the village found them. So, it was with great difficulty, that the two soon stood outside of the formidable boulder that guarded the base.

Lucky for Axel, it appeared impenetrable.

"Well, too bad! It's closed! See ya later, Dei-whats-your-face!" he said, turning around to run back to the dark corridor.

He was stopped by a small hand on his arm and he heard Deidara say, "No, danna! We have to perform the opening jutsu, remember?"

Axel clenched his fists but turned around, making a mental note to incinerate the blond later. But he was still confused; what the heck was a _jutsu?_

"I don't, Dei...whoever you are. Maybe if you showed me I could remember...?" he asked. He figured he really didn't have a choice. This was foreign land he was on, and who _knows _what else was out there?

Deidara nodded and performed the correct jutsu, jabbing the boulder in just the right spot to get it to open. Axel's jaw dropped as he saw the boulder slide to the side and a cave yawned before them. Deidara took his hand again and led him through, and Axel turned around just in time to see the boulder slide back in place. Perfectly innocent, yeah?

"Leader-sama!" Deidara shouted, "Leader—"

He was interrupted by the hand that fastened swiftly over his mouth as Axel covered it, panicking.

"What are you doing, you weirdo?" he hissed, "Who _knows _what's down this hole!"

Deidara rolled his eyes at him and shook his hand off. He continued down the hallway, motioning for Axel to come, as he led them down the surprisingly large tunnel network.

They soon entered a living area that opened up into the other side of the cave, letting light in through a glass window. Futons and electric lights were spread out here and there, some of them occupied by a person in a coat identical to the ones Axel and Deidara wore.

The Flurry's attention snapped to the orange-haired, pierced man who stood up from his place next to a blue-haired weapon and looked at them. Axel took a step back when the man looked at him with narrowed, steel-gray eyes. For a moment, Axel felt a chill run up his spine.

"You're back." he said.

"Yeah, un! Mission accomplished...but with a little—TOBI, NO!" Deidara suddenly broke off, shouting as _something _attached itself to his leg.

To Axel's surprise and slight horror, he realized that it was a man, about Demyx's height, who was wearing a strange orange, swirly mask. Axel jumped back, repulsed, only to ram into something large and soft from behind. Letting out a shout of surprise, he spun around and looked up into the menacingly..._blue _face of a _freakishly _tall man.

Actually, looking closer, Axel saw that he resembled something more of a man-shark. His eyes were small, white, and round, with small black pupils, and he had what resembled (or could indeed be) gills on his face too. Axel froze and gawked at the giant man, who just stared down at him.

"Ah...HIDE ME!" Axel shrieked, diving behind one of the futons. Once he landed, however, he felt the floor start to shake and he went still, staring horrorstruck as a large _plant _rose up out of the floor...with him on it!

Everyone in the room was now gawking at him as Zetsu finished his ascent. He twitched when he felt Axel's motionless form on him and, with a simple shake, threw him off. Axel hit the floor and he jumped up again, staring around.

"He's got amnesia, un!" Deidara said worriedly as everyone walked towards him. The orange-haired man from before turned to look at him.

"Amnesia? How did _that _happen?" he asked.

As Deidara went into a hasty explanation of what had happened on the mission, Axel found himself pressed up to the wall, wishing to be back at his own castle and not in this freakish...madhouse!

* * *

><p>And while Axel was busy getting acquainted with <em>his <em>new surroundings, _Sasori _was being enlightened in the ways of Organization XIII.

"How do we do this?" the puppet-turned-Flurry asked as he stumbled through the darkness of the dark corridor.

"Just follow us, Axel!" he heard the girl, what was her name, Xion, say. He turned blindly and followed the sound of her voice as the two teens led him out of the darkness.

The room they came out to was angular and gray, with a large window taking the place of the far wall. Couches, chairs, and the occasional table were spread out around the area, and Sasori was surprised at how similar it was to the living room back home.

"Where are we?" he asked, turning to the boy Roxas.

"The Grey Area." Roxas explained, "Where Saix gives us missions and where most everyone hangs out _before_ and after missions."

"And...who is 'most everyone'?" Sasori asked. These two obviously seemed to trust him...nothing wrong with taking back a few key points to Leader-sama whenever he got _off _this planet.

"The Organization, Axel!" Xion exclaimed, "Oh don't worry, they'll be in here soon."

Sure enough, the sounds of many approaching feet and loud voices could be heard, and the Grey Area was suddenly overflowing with people. All of them wore identical coats, so Sasori got a little bit confused as he looked from person to person.

"Oh good, you're back."

Sasori looked around and saw straight blue hair walking towards him and he felt a wave of relief, thinking it was Konan, until he saw the big 'X' scar that scratched the person's face. Further analysis revealed it to be a man, with glowing yellow eyes that oddly reminded him of Zetsu.

Sasori realized the man was waiting for an answer but how could he reply? He didn't know _anything _about this "Organization XIII." What if they all spoke in some odd sort of code and he'd be destroyed if he said something wrong?

"Axel's mission was hard, but he got through it okay." Roxas said, "He got a little hurt, so we're taking him down to Vexen."

"Yeah." Xion nodded, bolstering his little half-truth, "C'mon, Axel."

"Saix" watched them go, along with a few other people in the room. Roxas and Xion took one of Sasori's hands each and led him through yet another dark corridor to Vexen's lab.

When they had arrived, the first thing Sasori saw was a black creature scuttling towards him, impossibly fast for its small physique. Sasori's eyes widened and he jumped back, colliding with the door as the black..._thing _continued running. His attention snapped to the elderly blonde man who rushed towards them and threw a bag over the creature, effectively capturing it.

The man rose, snagged creature in hand, and snorted.

"Heartless." he scoffed.

Sasori stood rigid with shock as the man turned and seemed to notice them for the first time. Green eyes narrowed as the older man saw who was disturbing him.

"What do _you _want, Number VIII?" he snapped, looking at Sasori. Sasori cringed. For some reason, this venerable looking man was _not _very friendly with this "Axel" character. He didn't understand the "Number VIII" but he figured it wise to keep quiet.

"He's got amnesia, Vexen." Roxas explained, "He doesn't remember who he is, who _we _are, _or _what the Organization is! He doesn't remember how to use dark corridors and we figured _you _might be able to help!"

"Vexen's" expression changed from exasperated to intrigued as he looked at Sasori again, with a more thoughtful gaze.

"Amnesia, you say? Now how did _that _happen?" he mused.

Roxas and Xion shrugged.

"We don't know! When we found him he fell out of a tree...maybe he hit his head on the way down?" Xion asked.

"Why would he be in a tree?" Vexen questioned, "He _hates _greenery. That, I believe, is one reason why he and number XI are so at odds most of the time."

"We don't know, okay? Can you fix him or not?" Roxas snapped.

Vexen narrowed his eyes again at the boy, causing the teen to step back, as he growled, "I'd advise you watch your tone, number XIII."

Sasori watched the two stare it out until he coughed, bringing their attention back to him.

"If I may ask..." he said carefully, "Why do you refer to each other as numbers instead of names?"

"It is how we identify ourselves." Vexen said airily, "But _you_ wouldn't remember anything about that, would you?"

Roxas bristled and he moved to stand defensively in front of his friend, glaring up at the scientist with hate brimming in his bright blue eyes.

"Look, if you won't help him, we can just report this to the Superior." he said fiercely, "And _he _wouldn't like it if his top assassin had amnesia and his _scientist _refused to help him!"

Vexen stared at him, mouth agape.

"Are you _threatening _me?" he almost screeched.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. Now fix him, or I'm telling Superior!"

Vexen fell quiet and stared from Roxas to Sasori, weighing his decision. If he restored Axel's memory, he would have the same old annoying, pyromaniacal, absurdly _arrogant _number VIII back. Of course, if he refused to help him...

"Fine." Vexen sighed, defeated, "But I am only doing this for the Superior. And number XIII, I _will _have my revenge for this little misconduct."

Roxas slowly relaxed as Vexen took Sasori towards the back of the room and sat him down on a chair. He and Xion stood back, watching just in case Vexen decided to duck out of his agreement to help.

At the moment, Sasori didn't know what was worse. Being trapped in this strange cult that was not his own, or being treated by a scientist who apparently _hated _him. Despite the puppet's lack of emotion, he had to admit he did _not _like the way that man was staring at him...


	3. Nice to Meet You  Again?

**Chapter 3! Enjoy the madness~! And review!**

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at the Akatsuki base, Axel was being introduced (or re-introduced) to the group he now apparently had to call his.<p>

"I'm Deidara, un. But you already knew that." Deidara said, pointing to himself, "I'm your partner, yeah! We do missions together, and we're both artists. We also share a room..."

Axel stared at him, his face a mask of disgust. Deidara caught it and blushed, shaking his head. "No, un! Not like that! All the partners share rooms, yeah!"

Axel still looked repulsed so Deidara gave a nervous cough and pointed to the orange-haired man with all the piercings. Axel had started to mentally refer to the man as "The Pumpkin King."

"That's Leader-sama, un!" Deidara said, "His real name's Pein-sama, but everyone calls him Leader-sama. He's the leader of the Akatsuki, yeah!"

Axel stopped him with a raised hand, something ticking him off.

"Why do you keep saying 'yeah' or 'un' after every sentence? It's annoying me." he said. Deidara shrugged.

"It's what I do, un. Can't control it, hmm." he said pacifically.

"Anyways, that's Konan-chan. Leader-sama's partner." the artist said, nodding to the pretty blue-haired woman from before.

Axel's eyes lingered on her for a moment before Deidara tugged his sleeve and muttered, "Sasori-danna, she's taken."

Axel shrugged and looked up as Deidara introduced him to the next person. Axel's first thought that it was a scarecrow...until it _blinked._

"That's Kakuzu-san. Careful, he's obsessed with money, un! He's also the only medic-nin we have, so if you get hurt, you either figure out how to fix yourself or pay him to help." Deidara said.

Axel looked at the man thoughtfully, murmuring, "Reminds me of Luxord..."

"What's that, un?" Deidara asked.

Axel paused and looked down at him, then rubbed his back with a nervous smile on his face.

"Ah...nothing. Keep going, I think I might recognize these guys." he said smoothly.

Deidara nodded at a man coming in. Axel twitched when he saw that A., he was shirtless, and B., _covered in blood._

Oddly enough, "Bloody Mary" as he was now officially called, didn't seem perturbed by the fluids that stained him.  
>"That's Hidan. He's a Jashinist, hence the blood." Deidara explained.<p>

"Jashinist?" Axel echoed.

"It's his religion. Personally, none of us believe it exists, but never say that around him, un. He's just as good at dealing pain out to others as he is to himself, yeah." his blond tour guide said.

"Lessee...that's Kisame-san." he went on, pointing to the blue man Axel had screamed at earlier. Axel paled when "Jaws" looked at him, but he simply nodded and looked away.

"_That _guy beside him is Itachi." Deidara half-spoke, half-growled as he nodded at the black-haired, red-eyed teen next to Kisame. Axel looked at him, surprised.

"Doesn't sound like _you _two get along." he commented. Itachi just looked away, his expression never changing. The boy somewhat reminded Axel of Saix...except a _little_ less depressing.

"He's not my favorite person, un. Anyways, that over there is Zetsu...but you already know him." Deidara said, pointing to "Plant That Tried To Eat Me Alive."

"_Sorry for the_**—scare, Sasori.**_ We didn't know you were_**—ill." **the bipolar plant said in two different voices. Axel stared at him but didn't comment, as Deidara was pointing to the orange-masked man who was bouncing impatiently at Zetsu's side.

"And _that..._is Tobi." Deidara actually _did _growl this time, showing just how much he cared for the guy.

At the mention of his name, Tobi jumped up and the next thing Axel knew, he was thrown on the ground and clung to by the hyperactive man-boy. (Looks like a an, acts like a boy.)

"Tobi is a good boy?" he asked.

Axel gawked at him and said, "Uh...sure...?"

Tobi squealed with glee and jumped on Deidara, who proceeded to throttle him.

"WOULD YOU GO AWAY?" the artist shouted.

"But...but Tobi is a good boy! Sasori-danna said so!" Tobi exclaimed. He looked at Axel and prompted, "Right?"

Axel looked from Tobi to Deidara, who was making that slicing motion across your throat you make when you want someone to shut up. He mouthed, "No!"

"Uh...you're on your own." Axel said, backing off.

Tobi squealed as Deidara kicked him and he ran back to hide behind Zetsu, who just shook his head in annoyance.

"Now that we're all reacquainted..." Pein said, "Deidara, just how much has Sasori forgotten?"

Deidara sighed.

"Everything, un! He doesn't remember jutsus, chakra, his puppets, _my _clay, how he got kicked out of his village...it's all gone, un." he said.

Pein closed his eyes and tilted his head up towards the ceiling, seeking patience. When he was done, he lowered his head again and said, "Fine then. Re-introduce him first to life here at the Akatsuki, then everything else. Everyone else except Konan, you're to help him. Get to it; I don't need an amnesic puppet wandering around getting himself killed."

With that, he and Konan left the room. All eyes turned to Axel, who bristled at the attention. Deidara put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down and he said, "It's getting late. Why don't I show you our room, danna? We can start rehabilitating you tomorrow."

Axel nodded dumbly as Deidara led him down the hall and showed him a door, just as plain as the others in the base. Deidara pushed it open, revealing a room full of clay, half-carved puppets, paint, and all manner of art supplies. There were two desks on separate sides of the room, with lanterns and chairs that seemed to suit their owner. Deidara's lamp had a yellow shade, while Axel's had a red. There was a half-finished marionette sitting on Axel (or Sasori's) desk, while Deidara's just held a book.

"That's my side of the room, danna." Deidara said, pointing in towards the farther side.

He then pointed to the opposite side, "And that's yours. We made a deal that we keep to our sides of the room, except for using the bathroom, which is on my side, un."

Axel walked slowly over to "his" side of the room, full of strings and wood and knives, but he just went to sit down on the bed. Deidara frowned sympathetically as he saw how abnormally aloof his ill danna was.

"Don't worry, danna." he said, "We'll help you get your memory back. Promise, un."

Axel just nodded and lay down on the bed, pulling the blanket up and turning over so he faced the wall. He heard Deidara turn out the light and go to his own bed. Soft breathing soon told him the young blonde had fallen asleep.

Axel sighed.

"Xemnas..." he muttered, "When I get back to the Castle, I'm _incinerating _you."

* * *

><p>Sasori shrank back in his chair as Vexen towered over him, practically <em>spitting <em>out his questions as he interrogated the amnesic man.

"Do you remember anything?" he spat.

"Er...no?" Sasori replied, his eyes wide. Vexen was _intimidating!_

"Your name is Axel. Formerly, it was Lea. When you joined the Organization your name became an anagram with the letter 'X' included. You were the eighth member of the Organization to join, so you were given the number and rank of 'VIII'. Your element is fire, and your weapon of choice is the chakram. Am I going too fast for you?"

Sasori wanted to scream 'YES! YES, YOU OLD BAG! YOU _ARE!' _But instead is head was reeling with this sudden dumping of information. Axel, Lea, Organization, X's? Element, did he mean like _chakra? _What was a _chakram? _Did it have anything to _do _with chakra? They were awfully close in spelling...

"Uh..."

Vexen snorted.

"Continuing on. You lost your heart to the darkness many years ago, when you were still a teenager. You and Saix, or Isa as he was, joined at roughly the same time. Your heart was taken by the Heartless, but it was strong enough to leave behind a shell, or 'Nobody'. _You, _like everyone else in the Organization, are _a Nobody._" he said.

Sasori furrowed his brow and gawked at the scientist. So...a Nobody? That was like what he usually was, right? A puppet with no emotions? Maybe this wouldn't be so hard to adjust to after all...

"...Hearts? But..." he looked down at his chest, or rather, _Axel's _chest.

"Not a physical heart, you imbecile." Vexen snapped, "An _emotional _heart. The core of all emotions, feelings, etcetera. You can still bleed and feel pain, ergo you still have a _physical _heart."

Sasori narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

"That is as much information as I can give you right now. Your reintroduction should be slow and steady so you don't keel over with the shock of learning so many new things..._again. _Numbers XIII and XIV, go and reintroduce him to the others. That should be enough to take in for _one _day." Vexen said, turning to the younger teens.

Roxas saluted smartly and rushed forward to collect Sasori, while Xion stood by to take him through another portal. When they were gone, Vexen turned back to the work he had been doing earlier, to find that a certain bag was missing...

"Oh dear."

* * *

><p>Roxas and Xion took Sasori back up to the Grey Area, where ten other people were milling about, doing much of nothing.<p>

"Okay, we can't be obvious in this." Roxas whispered, "The less Superior knows, the easier. Come on, let's go sit down."

Sasori stared at the teen in shock. 'Superior' was obviously the Leader-sama of this "Organization XIII," so why on earth (or wherever they were) would they be keeping _secrets _from him?

"Isn't retaining information treason?" he asked. Back home, Pein would _kill _anyone who kept something from him!

"Well..." Xion said.

"It depends on the information." Roxas explained, "He doesn't care about the little stuff, only the big stuff. Heartless movements, new worlds, stuff like that. Let's try to keep this hush-hush and 'little' and avoid an uproar."

Sasori nodded slowly. It made _some _sort of sense, he guessed...

"Anyways, that over there is the Superior, number I. Watch out for him." Roxas said, nodding to the silver-haired man talking to Saix by the window. When he looked up, Sasori could see he had bright orange eyes and he thought, _Swap the hair and eye color and I could be looking at a new Pein..._

"That's Xigbar, number II. He's probably the oldest member here, but he's _really _good at shooting stuff, despite his missing eye. He talks weird, though. Like a surfer, almost." Xion commented.

_Surfer?_

"That over there, with the big black dreadlocks, is number III, Xaldin. He likes to train and fight a lot, so I wouldn't go challenging him." Roxas said.

"Vexen's number IV...you've already seen what _he's _like." Xion muttered.

"That's Lexaeus and Zexion, numbers V and VI. Lexaeus is really quiet, but also really big. He's nice, though, so no worries. Zexion's serious, bookish, and a smidge depressing. He doesn't like being disturbed and he's usually cooped up in the library reading _Twilight _or some shit like that." Roxas said.

As he watched, Sasori saw Zexion open a dark corridor and leave and he was oddly reminded of Itachi. Lexaeus gave him a mental picture of Kisame, except a lot less blue and sharkish.

"Saix over there is the second-in-command. He's super calm...most of the time. When he gets really mad, he Berserks and it takes a lot to calm him down. It's best to not push his buttons for that, and the fact that he's so close to the Superior." Xion told him. Again, Sasori saw a resemblance with Saix and Konan. He was becoming increasingly intrigued and disturbed by how similar the Organization and Akatsuki were, despite neither party having heard of the other.

"You're number VIII, and that's Demyx, number IX." Roxas went on. Now Sasori's attention was drawn to a cheerful-looking teen lounging in a chair, holding an instrument of _some _description in his hands. Sasori got a flash picture of Tobi in his mind and he couldn't help but feel his borrowed blood boil at the thought of the annoying little twit.

"He's a bit of a slacker, but the things he can do with his water and sitar are _amazing. _He's pretty easy-going, but a little bit clingy sometimes." Roxas said.

_Just like Tobi._

"Let's see...that's Luxord, number X. He's a gambler, he uses cards, and he really likes munny. He's really good at cheating you of it too, so _never _agree to sit down and play poker with him unless you have some _really _deep pockets." Xion giggled.

_Like Kakuzu...hm..._

"That's Marluxia and Larxene. Marluxia's number XI and Larxene's number XII. Marluxia has a garden he's really crazy about keeping, so in the past, you would always burn it down just to annoy him. For the longest time, Larxene was the only girl here, until Xion came along. She's really...well..._savage. _She has a nice side to her..._somewhere, _but you'd have to dig really deep to find it and no one wants to probe her for it. She rages a lot so it's best to just steer clear." Roxas said.

Sasori sighed. Now he was seeing Kakuzu _and _Hidan in Larxene. And that was a completely disturbing mental picture he did _not _want.

"And I'm Roxas! Number XIII. All three of us, we're best friends." Roxas exclaimed.

"And of course I'm Xion, number XIV. Well...that's everyone. Come on, we'll show you your room and we can get started again tomorrow!" Xion said. This time, Roxas opened the portal and pushed Sasori through first so he could navigate on his own.

As he stumbled through the dark to the other side, Sasori's head was filled with the similarities he had seen between the Akatsuki and the Organization, mostly its members.

_Yet how, _he wondered as he bade the younger teens good night and entered what was now "his" room, _have we never once heard of each other?_


End file.
